


come bright morning

by orro



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, night and day au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 21:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18269789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orro/pseuds/orro
Summary: Before Hide had a name, before Kaneki had a kingdom, before they were sun and moon, light and dark, night and day, it had been just the two of them.





	come bright morning

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Tokyo Ghoul reverse bang. Inspired by art from Puszko who was fantastic to work with. Please check it out!
> 
> https://puszko.tumblr.com/post/183774054303/my-work-for-tokyoghoulreversebang-story

For a second, an eternity, a moment, endless lifetimes, it had been just the two of them. 

Before Hide had a name, before Kaneki had a kingdom, before they were sun and moon, light and dark, night and day, it had been just the two of them. 

Hide remembers Kaneki’s sleeping face, had watched him opened his eyes for the first time, and had shyly smiled at him, their fingers entwined the entire time until others had come to take them away. There were kingdoms to learn to command, publics that needed to be protected, and duties that had to be fulfilled.

Hide wishes those days with the two of them had lasted longer. 

#

“There was another attack by these ghouls,” Hide’s advisors tell them during the next meeting between Sun and Moon. 

Kaneki looks somber as he listens. He’s hearing the same reports from his own people.

Both of their kingdoms are being attacked by these new creatures who devour their victims, leaving only pieces to show where they have attacked. It’s grisly to see just a pool of blood and a few bones scatter to show where a person had lived before.

Hide and Kaneki stand out on the balcony, watching the night sky flicker as the stars light it up. Kaneki occasionally glances to different quadrants of the sky, checking that everything is as it should be, before he finally turns his attention back to Hide. 

“What are you going to do?” Kaneki asks him. 

“Defend my people,” Hide answers, which is the obvious answer. He leans on the white stone ledge and looks out without seeing, his mind whirring and buzzing with plans. 

“What are we going to do?” Kaneki asks again. 

“I don’t know,” Hide says, biting at his thumb. They need to learn more about this enemy that can feast on their people. Kaneki nods, the look of research in his eyes even though he’s nowhere near a book. 

The perils that Hide and Kaneki are used to facing typically have no faces, no bodies, just the inexorable forces the universes affecting their lands. They can tackles tsunamis of falling stars, the land breaking beneath their feet, and rolling clouds crashing; to physically fight against something is a new challenge. 

Kaneki hesitates then lays his hands on the ledge, letting Hide be the one to reach out and rest his own palm atop his. 

“Be careful,” he says. “I have a bad feeling about this.” 

“You worry too much,” Hide says. 

But he understands that what Kaneki means is that they need to be safe. He can only ask the same of his friend. But they have a task and a duty. Kaneki will always protect those who need him even at cost to himself. And Hide will always be there to stop him from diving in too deep.

#

The bodies begin to pile up. And slowly, ever so slowly, Hide realizes that the losses are disproportionately on his people’s side. Both kingdoms are being attacked, both suffering, but it gets to the point where he cannot ignore it any longer. 

“We found a pit with a hundred separate corpses. But it could be more. All we have are bones, after all,” Hide tells Kaneki as they leave the funeral service. 

Hide had watched Kaneki’s pale face oddly lit up by the fireworks of the Sun lit land, struggling with what he was going to say to him, and even now he is still unsure. The people around them are grieving and terrified, certain that they will be the next victim in the never ending stream of blood and death. 

“Too big of a loss,” Kaneki murmurs, his eyes downcast, wincing a little from the bright lights everywhere. Day in his land is softer, but Kaneki always strives to make the journey when it’s more convenient for Hide. “Something has to be done.” 

“Yes, we have to attack the enemy,” Hide says, keeping his gaze trained on Kaneki. 

Kaneki feels it, for he squirms but says nothing to defend himself. And truthfully Hide has little proof. But something isn’t adding up and while he waits for answers, his people are dying, Kaneki’s people are dying, and there is suffering. 

“You’ll fight alongside me,” Hide says, and it’s partially a confirmation that he needs to hear for himself. 

“Of course,” Kaneki says. He doesn’t look at Hide when he says it. 

Hide’s heart aches.

#

Hide makes the trip to Kaneki’s lands, the shadowy sky disgustingly foreboding, but he has no time to waste. He makes his arrival quietly, surprising the night court with his sudden appearance.

“Hide,” Kaneki exclaims, standing up to greet him. He’s in the midst of a pile of books, researching the ghouls no doubt, even as he attends to the other matters of his kingdom. Star charts and maps fall to the ground as he gets up abruptly.

“Leave,” he commands to the people in the room. They glance at Kaneki for confirmation who gives it in confusion, because Hide doesn’t overstep and order as he pleases. But Hide can’t let anyone else hear this and he has to talk to Kaneki now. 

“You were seen with a ghoul,” Hide says the moment the room is clear. It hurts to repeat. But Hide grits his teeth and forces himself. “Explain. Please. I have none, no reasons, I can’t imagine you would sacrifice your people, so please, Kaneki-” 

“No,” Kaneki whispers, all the color drained from his face. It’s too quiet now. He can hear Kaneki’s heart pounding in the silence. “Hide, you don’t think-” 

“What can I think?” Hide laughs, a little madly but mostly betrayed. But there’s still hope, he will always wait for Kaneki’s answer, because he believes in him before anyone or anything else. “Ten of my people die for every one of yours. What else can I think, Kaneki, other than you control the ghouls? Or perhaps you are simply in an alliance with them. It doesn’t make sense so explain now otherwise tomorrow I’m attacking.” 

“Tomorrow...attacking…” Kaneki repeats. He looks at Hide, just as gutted as he feels, and Hide doesn’t want this. But now he has proof that Kaneki has connections to ghouls. 

“Let me, I need a minute, there’s someone I need you to meet,” Kaneki says and Hide gives a curt nod, watching Kaneki go to the door where a group is huddling, no doubt worried for their king. 

He waits, giving Kaneki the chance to explain himself, hoping beyond hope that there’s an explanation. There’s too much doubt and fear in the air right now, enough that he’s questioning the person he knows better than anyone else, the one who has been there since the beginning with him. 

Kaneki returns with a woman by his side, and Hide looks her over carefully, dread rising sharply in him as he sees her red gaze. 

“She’s a ghoul, Kaneki,” Hide hisses and he means to leap in between them when Kaneki raises an arm to stop him. 

“I-I know that,” he says, biting his lip. Hide stops, frozen in his shock. What else has Kaneki been keeping from him? “Please, just listen. I was going to tell you sooner. But I couldn’t find a chance.” 

Hide stares at him in horror for it’s unthinkable that Kaneki would betray him and yet the woman stands between them as proof. 

“Her name is Touka-” 

“Kaneki says you’re a good man,” Touka says, her eyes boring into him. They’re red, alight with warning and aggression, and Hide wouldn’t have ever thought that Kaneki could talk to such a creature. There’s so much he doesn’t know. “I don’t trust you though.” 

“Touka,” Kaneki says, a little nervous and scolding, a tone that Hide is long familiar with. It’s unnerving to hear him use it with someone else and Hide doesn’t know what’s going on in his own heart any longer. 

“I don’t; I’ve never actually met him. All I have is your word,” Touka says, glancing at Kaneki. “I trust you but I don’t always trust your judgement, Kaneki.” 

Kaneki ignores the slight and Hide wants to rush to his defense, to insist that Kaneki isn’t a fool. But right now he keeps silent, unsure of what’s going on. 

“You can tell him what you’ve told me,” Kaneki says. “I would have told him sooner.” 

“There are two factions of ghouls,” Touka says, still watching him warily. “Sometimes they work together and sometimes they don’t. But they’ve been trying to drive you two apart. They’re going to take down the Day Kingdom first then attack the Night Kingdom.”

“How do you know this?” Hide asks. 

“We talk. There are really three factions, I suppose,” Touka admits cautiously, glancing at Kaneki as if still uncertain that Hide is on their side. “We don’t want this war anymore than you two do. But our land was destroyed and we have nowhere else to go. And our numbers are far smaller. We’re in a precarious position because we won’t attack the kingdoms and so they don’t trust us.” 

“They don’t attack us, not even to feed,” Kaneki speaks up, looking at Touka with admiration. “They’ve saved some of our people before. I’ve seen it. It was something I had to investigate before I could confirm it with you, Hide. I’m sorry I couldn’t mention it before.” 

“I understand,” Hide says. He can’t look at Kaneki anymore. Instead his gaze is on Touka, who glares at him the way he years to glare at her. But he controls himself, lets Kaneki think that he is mollified, because he has no way to warn him, not while he’s in the thrall of this creature.

Hide leaves, his heart heavy with his decision. Tomorrow he will still attack. Touka is a ghoul, and they’ve infiltrated the Moon Kingdom; it will be cruel but it’s the only way to save Kaneki from being poisoned from them further. 

#

“Defend yourselves and kill who you must, but our focus is on the ghouls, not the people of the moon,” Hide declares to the warriors gathered. It’s not a rousing cry to battle, and many think that the night people are in league with the ghouls, using the shadows of the night to help them attack. But Hide is sure that once the ghouls are eradicated everything will return to normal and the two kingdoms can be at peace with one another. 

They attack in the morning, and Hide sobs a little inside for what he’s decided to do, for it’s a surprise attack and the Night Kingdom was not ready for its ally to invade. But he presses on, knowing it’s the right thing to do, the only way he can save Kaneki from himself. 

The battle stops in one area and Hide goes there to see there’s a ghoul amongst the Night people, and Hide’s heart sinks as fury erupts around him, because he had suspected but it’s different to see the mangled corpse in evening clothes. He closes his eyes for just a moment then advances again, determined to cut the ghouls from this land. Kaneki was fooled by them and their pretty words but Hide will not be the same. 

He cuts through the forces of the Night Kingdom that have begun to gather, realizing they have been slow to mobilize; he’d been expecting a delayed reaction but the kingdom is in a state of high alert thanks to the ghouls’ presence. He doesn’t have time to consider it further though because someone calls out for him and Hide turns to look, dread filling him as he sees the legions of ghouls advancing from behind them. 

Hide’s mind blanks then it rushes as it tries to figure out what’s happening, but before he can become paralyzed by the overload of information he gives the command to attack the ghouls first. Then he dives in and forgets everything as he simply struggles to fit for his own damn life.

There’s a ghoul’s breath at the back of his neck, putrid and reeking of fresh blood, and Hide lashes out again before it can bite down. He’s exhausted, the numbers far more than he had been expecting, and everything he had thought was wrong. 

He played right into their hands, attacking the Moon kingdom just as they had predicted, because of course he could have never sat back and just watched his people being killed. They had done it on purpose, painting the Moon kingdom as potential allies, and Hide shouldn't have doubted Kaneki. But he had, and Kaneki had done the same, kept secrets when there was no need. They’d fallen for the trick.

Hide can only scream for Kaneki, desperate to find him amongst all the bloodshed. He was wrong and they had been played for fools. 

He orders a retreat, surprised to see the ghouls drawing back, until he realizes how many of the corpses on the ground are ghouls. There’s a drop of pride then it’s swallowed up by despair as he sees the multitude of other corpses, night and day alike covering the ground. 

He’s exhausted, aching all the way down to his bones, but he forces himself to stand and keep going. His people need him to be strong and he takes inventory of all the injured, all the dead, taking stock of everything that has happened. 

Hide finally, finally gets a chance to sit and rest, a moment to breath in the madness of this war, when there’s an outcry, and someone is running to summon him. Hide gets up and meets them halfway, not understanding their garbled words as they try to pant out the message, but he follows where they point. 

Touka is standing at the gates, a bloody person on her shoulders, and she’s snarling at them to try to fight her. Hide’s heart shatters as he recognizes the tattered robes of the Night King.

“What happened?” Hide cries out. He pushes the guards out of the way, not even bothering to yell at them, only having eyes for Kaneki. Once the day kingdom realizes who the ghoul is carrying they spring into action, leading them to a private room and summoning the doctors. 

“He...went on his own. He went ahead to take down the ghouls before they would attack you,” Touka says as she lays Kaneki down on the ground, every single bed and cot in use. At least they have privacy, Hide thinks madly. She glares at Hide as if this is his fault. 

Hide has to suppress his scream because of course Kaneki would try to deal with the ghouls all on his own. Anything so that Hide wouldn’t have to. But he had to have known he couldn’t have defeated them alone. Did he knowingly go to his death? That...that...dumbass!

“You are so dumb. How could you-”

“You have to help him. He’s dying,” Touka interrupts him to demand and Kaneki gives a rasping, rattling breath as if to confirm her words. 

Hide drops by his side, and although he’s covered in blood as well, it makes him tremble to see Kaneki looking the same; but Kaneki’s blood is his own. 

“Come on, Kaneki, you idiot,” Hide murmurs as he presses a palm to Kaneki’s blood streaked chest. He intends to warm him with his sunlight until the doctors arrive but then Kaneki reaches up to grasp his arm. “Ah, are you feeling better-?” 

Hide feels something warm along his neck and then realizes that Kaneki’s teeth are biting him. It isn’t until the third bite that Hide howls in pain but he doesn’t pull away, not even as Kaneki continues. He clings to Kaneki, letting him feast, and he catches Touka’s eyes for a moment, struck by how they shine and glimmer, blood red like the harvest moon that Kaneki occasionally conjures up when the season is right. 

Then Touka pulls Kaneki away, and for a moment he fights and reaches for Hide, then he drops in her arms. His breathing is a little steadier now. Hide has his hands pressed to his mouth and neck in a desperate attempt to keep the blood from flowing. 

Hide tries to ask if Kaneki will be okay but he can’t speak, his throat a ravaged mess. He doesn’t even feel when he hits the floor, just trying to desperately keep his gaze on Kaneki to make sure he’s okay.

“Don’t you dare die on me,” Touka says, her face blurry and her voice far away even as her hands are gentle on his shoulders as she rolls him onto his side. “He’ll be too sad if you do.” 

Hide gurgles out a laugh as the pain overwhelms him. 

#

The Sun and Moon are still standing for now but both are battered from the latest attack by the ghouls. The only good news is that the ghouls are weakened as well and their hiding place has been flushed out. But they know now that there are many more ghouls than they had originally estimated, and the fight is going to have to change now. 

“I’m not playing messenger for you two,” Touka says as she comes into his court, ignoring all the stares. She sits down on his throne and doesn’t seem to notice how people gawk at her, too busy pulling her bag to her lap and rifling through it. 

Hide just scoots over so she has room to maneuver. It was quite something to learn that Touka wasn’t the leader of the sect of ghouls she was from; she had just been the one to encounter Kaneki, for him to stumble across her killing another ghoul and stopping it from killing a Moon kingdom citizen. While she had spoken true when she said their numbers were far smaller than the aggressive ghouls, there was still a significant number of them, and it was an unlikely ally in this fight that Hide had never expected. 

“He won't come see me,” Hide whines, leaning up against her. Touka doesn’t push him away which is interesting. 

“Can’t blame him,” Touka says, eyeing the scars across his throat and face. 

Hide traces one finger along the edge around his mouth. He could wipe it all away but he won’t. It looks kind of cool. But it will mostly serve to remind everyone of how close they all came to death. 

“Please tell him he’s always welcome here. I don’t hold anything against him. Tell him, Touka, please-” 

“You go see him,” she says, irritated. She pushes his head away now and pulls out a notebook. 

“He won’t let me,” Hide says. “The guards always say he’s away. I don’t believe it but I don’t want to force my way in either.” 

Touka sighs then stands up, brandishing an ink pen in his face. “I told you both, I’m not playing messenger. You want to talk to him? Go talk to him. Don’t play dumb. We both know you’re not stupid. Now I need some numbers and I’m not leaving till I get them.”

Hide blinks at her for a moment then grins, the effect far more terrifying now and he forgets that sometimes. Touka only glares at him and he returns to work; ghouls need to be registered as citizens and while more prefer the Night Lands there’s a fair amount that want dual citizenship or to be recognized as Day citizens. 

He hasn’t needed to sneak in; it’s been ages since they were young, still learning to command their kingdoms, and back then they had both learned ways to get around their duties and find a chance to see one another. Hide had been the one more likely and often to sneak out but Kaneki did it often enough as well. 

Hide is clambering up a tree, barely having hopped through a window, when he hears a familiar sound. He looks up to see Kaneki, looking ready to flee.

“Hide,” Kaneki says, taking a step back. 

“Stop running,” Hide begs. He doesn’t move, clutching onto the window sill. If Kaneki asks he’ll leave but he doesn’t want to. He misses his friend. “Please, Kaneki, look at me.” 

Kaneki shakes his head and keeps his face turned away. 

“You should go,” Kaneki says. 

“Do you really want me to go?” Hide asks and Kaneki hesitates. Hide seizes the chance. “I’m sorry. I doubted you. I played into the ghouls hands. I should have known better, I should have done everything different, but I was scared. I knew you couldn’t in league with them but everything pointed in that direction. And the ghouls did that on purpose, they did it to split us apart, and it’s still working now and I don’t want to let them win like that-” 

“That doesn’t matter to me,” Kaneki interrupted. He hesitates and glances at Hide’s throat. “I almost killed you. I can’t forgive myself for that.” 

Hide touches his scars. He’s alive, and he helped Kaneki live; to him the matter is done. But that’s clearly not true for Kaneki. 

“You don’t have to-”

“I’m sorry,” Kaneki says with dismissal in his voice and he doesn’t look Hide in the eye. 

“Touch it,” Hide says, pointing to his scars. 

For a moment Hide thinks that Kaneki will reject it and scold him. Then Kaneki reaches out, his arm trembling, and tears fall down his cheeks as he follows the edges of the scars. 

“Hide, I’m sorry. It wasn’t worth it-” 

“I remember the first time I saw you. It was the first thing I saw,” Hide says. “You can’t say that, not to me.”

Kaneki stares at him, a little hitch in his voice as he tries to find something to say. Hide gently grips his wrist. 

“I don’t care about this. You’re alive, I’m alive, and we can live for another day. Isn’t that good enough?” 

“I don’t deserve this,” Kaneki whispers and Hide hears the unspoken ‘I don’t deserve you’. 

“You don't get to choose that,” Hide says. Some days he feels the same. What has he ever done to deserve such loyalty from someone he doubted so much? “Stop pushing me away, okay? We’re only going to win if we fight together. That much is clear.” 

He lets go of Kaneki's wrist so that he can wipe at his eyes. Now Kaneki meets his gaze and nods, serious and ready to face the threat of the ghouls by his side. 

“Tell me what Touka likes. I need to buy it for her. She kept telling me to talk to you,” Hide says with a little laugh, pretending like he isn’t teary eyed himself. 

“You too?” Kaneki says with a wet laugh. “She kept calling me a blockhead. I’m glad you like her.”

“I do like her,” Hide says. “She likes you so clearly she has good taste.” 

Kaneki flushes and splutters. Hide laughs and laughs, the feeling of his scars stretching his mouth still different and new. But he still has Kaneki by his side, the moon and the sun still rise, and he has no fear for the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, kudos, and lurkers are all appreciated <3


End file.
